‘Last Exorcism II’ bites, and the beat goes on

To no one’s surprise, critics didn’t like what they saw when they played catch-up with “The Last Exorcism Part II” last weekend.

The sequel to the 2010 surprise hit wasn’t screened in advance for critics. Everyone who follows this blog knows what that means. And everyone is probably as tired of reading it as I am of pointing it out, but I feel compelled to do this as a public/consumer service — and to not let no-show movies get away with hiding from critics.

Anyway, “Part II” has a thoroughly rotten 13 score of the Tomatometer. Anything in the teens or less ensures its status as a contender for the Worst Movies of 2013 list, although single-digit entrants “A Haunted House” and “Movie 43” are the leaders in the clubhouse.

“Part II” did have a couple of Top Critic supporters — Mark Olsen of the LA Times (“an effectively, unnerving, slow-burn supernatural horror tale”) and Andy Webster of the New York Times, who said star Ashley Bell rose above “the standard-issue atmospheric accouterments.”

But most critics felt like mySA (the Friday print section, aka the former Weekender) contributor Roger Moore, who called it “nothing more than a run of the mill ghost story masquerading as The Devil Made Her Do It.”

And sadly, the no-show streak will continue again this weekend. Word is that “Dead Man Down” isn’t being screened until Thursday night, which is way too late for our deadline — and most weekend-entertainment section deadlines. Which is precisely the point.

But “Dead Man Down,” a tale of crime and revenge, has a great pedigree. The impressive cast includes Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace (the original Dragon Tattoo Girl, who starred in “Prometheus”) and Terrence Howard (“Hustle and Flow,” “Iron Man,” “Crash”). And director Niels Arden Oplev was Rapace’s “Dragon Tattoo” director. So what gives?

Unfortunately it continues a depressing trend; it’ll be the ninth major movie that ran and hid from critics this year. Which means there’ll be another posting like this next Monday.